Ah Yoga.
Meet Pro-Spirit(s)-Lifter, Dylan Zukowski!
There’s something about it and there ain’t nothing like it.
But what is yoga really?
Well, it means different things to different people. For some, yoga is the act of sitting silently in meditation. For others, it’s that power vinyasa flow at the local hot yoga studio. For others, still, it’s finding time to lay on the mat and breathe. Yoga in Sanskrit means “to join,” “to yolk,” “to unite.” Union of breath and body. Of mind and spirit. Of (hu)man and nature. That’s a lot deeper than the yoga you see on Instagram. It’s a way to calm the mind and steer it away from distracting thoughts (hello to-do list, my old friend)!
It’s also a way to learn what it feels like to be in the body. I mean, I had no idea what it felt like to be in my body before yoga. Yeah, like, I moved right? I knew when I had a stomach ache or when I was tired. But I didn’t know what it felt like to really embrace my body, to have appreciation for it.
Not until I found yoga on YouTube in a tiny apartment in the south of France. And what prompted me to Google a workout in the first place? Weight loss.
I wanted to lose weight. I wanted to get rid of the beer belly I had been developing over the last couple of years. (I told you, people come to yoga for different reasons!) And honestly, I don’t think it matters why or how you find yoga in the first place. Because once you’ve found it, you will feel something.
It’ll be slow at first.
An awareness of the body.
A whisper in the back of the mind.
But one day you’ll find that the way you move is different.
You may notice that the way you think begins to change.
You’ll begin to look at your body in a different way, with a more gentle eye.
You’ll watch as you fly through poses that you used to shake and struggle to hold.
You’ll observe your muscles develop and your flexibility deepen.
You may lose that weight that you’ve been holding onto. And if not, you may notice that you’re less hard on yourself about it.
So I’ve been doing yoga for 6 years now. I hit the mat for years with the sole purpose of burning enough calories to eat what I considered to be a normal amount of food. I used it as a way to get out of my head.
For 30 minutes a day.
I worked out hard and I began to love what my body could do. I loved seeing muscles I never knew I had.
I ignored anything having to do with the breath. Meditation was a joke.
We all come to yoga for different things.
Five years into my practice, I began to let go of the physicality (somewhat) and take the breath more seriously. I still want to be strong and powerful. I still want my body to be toned. But that’s not all it’s about anymore. Far from it.
It’s crazy when you can still the mind through physical exercise.
It’s crazier still when you can still the mind while sitting still and focusing on the breath.
It’s a game-changer, I’m telling you.
So, do the yoga.
If it’s for weight loss, mental clarity, stress relief, low back pain, a distraction from your daily life, do it.
Do the yoga.
Start today.
And here are five ways you can get to that yoga practice and stick with it!
First things first: Whether you hit the mat in the morning or after work, make it a point to make it happen right away. Either when you roll out of bed, or the second you walk in from work. This lessens the chance that something else will take too long or become more important.
Make it non-negotiable: Would you leave your house without brushing your teeth or putting on deodorant? No, probably not. Look at your time on the mat in the same way: something that has to happen in order for your ritual to be complete.
Make it fun! Book a Drunk Yoga experience for your friends once a month to keep your practice light and fun, and your workout social and uplifting. If it’s not fun and you don’t enjoy it, you wont keep it up!
Trust the Process: A sustainable lifestyle shift toward health takes time and patience. Trust that making these changes, and making it to your mat daily, is ultimately the best thing you can do for your body and mind!
Breathe. Just breathe. This, too, is yoga.
Cheers,
Subscribe to Dylan’s YouTube channel here!
Check out Dylan’s website, Yoga Infusion, here!
